U.S. endurance swimmer Diana Nyad becomes the first person to swim the treacherous waters from Cuba to Key West without a shark cage. Image: Andy Newman/AP

In the end, emerging from the ocean wearing a blue cap and goggles — and having swum about 110 miles in 52 hours and 54 minutes — Diana Nyad still had enough strength to walk ashore Monday.

Failing four times over the years, on her fifth and final attempt this weekend, Nyad, 64, officially became the first swimmer to go the distance from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.

Upon reaching shore at Smathers Beach in Key West, Fla., Nyad, a Los Angeles resident who has trained at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, had three things to tell the crowd of cheering onlookers who had watched her achieve a lifelong dream . . .